


Watercolor Dreams and Charcoal Jeans

by Red_Dead



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, art school au, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 04:04:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8431210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Dead/pseuds/Red_Dead
Summary: Lance and Keith are working on a project of their medium of choice, to mix things up, Professor Allura tells everyone to change their work stations and take over someone else's art. KLANCEBased in the world and story that is "thesearchingastronaut" on tumblr. Please follow her, she is an awesome person.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesearchingastronaut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesearchingastronaut/gifts).



> Work Based on Art School AU by "theseachingastronaut"  
> http://thesearchingastronaut.tumblr.com

When Keith woke up this morning, he didn’t expect to see a winter wonderland in front of him. He knew winter was just around the corner, with the summer green leaves changed to the fall colors of orange and yellow, eventually leaving the trees naked. Their skeleton branches reaching high to the falling snowflake sky. 

With a puff of his breath, the ice crystals chased away what magic took over him momentarily and he was attacked with bitter cold. The layers of clothing he wore, did not protect him from the outside forces he was currently hating. His hat could not over his ears as much as he hoped they would.

A slight knock to the head, brought Keith back to the “here and now”, glaring at his older brother, Shiro.

“Get over it Keith, winter’s here to stay only for a little while. Now hurry up, class will start soon and you and I both know it’s not wise to keep Allura waiting.”

Keith gave a pout, as he walked behind Shiro, using him as somewhat as a windbreaker from the cold gusts of wind that would whip by.

“I don’t mind winter...I just hate the cold…can we stop to get some coffee before we head to class?”

Shiro pulled his jacket close, the winter was getting to him too. With a puffy breath, he let out a long drawn sigh.

“You know...that sounds like a really good idea right now…”

Keith lit up and gave a huge grin. The day wasn’t so bad after all.

*****

Lance did not want to crawl out of bed this morning. Lance did not want to even be out walking this morning. But here he was, in blue jeans and a thick green jacket with a hoodie, marching through snow that reached just above his ankles. He knew he wouldn’t be getting his winter clothes for at least another week.

Lance loved the snow, when he was out in it and adjusted to it. But at the current moment, he was not interested in it at all. He cursed under his breath, envy in his voice has he complained.

“ I should have stayed home….like Hunk did...but nooo…I’m here getting my feet cold and freezing my ass off…”

It wasn’t long, before Lance saw his art building and his spirit started to feel a bit cheerier. With a sly look, Lance saw a steep hill and knew he had to find some way to start the day off better. With a gleam in his eye, he found the perfect item for a makeshift sled. A trash can lid.

He grabbed the plastic lid and set it down on the white covered ground. He sat down, bringing his feet in and held his hands on both sides of the lid, before slowly scooting towards the edge of the hill. It didn’t take much, but one last scoot, left Lance flying down the hill.

With a rush in his stomach, the cold wind whipping around him, Lance let out a huge laugh. For a moment, he was back home with his family. The cold left his body as adrenaline kicked in. For him, this was the life.

And the fun ended the moment two people entered his unstoppable destination. Fear entered his body as he let out a yell.

“Look out!”

In that moment, Keith and Shiro glanced up the hill, to see such an interesting sight. With a quick hasty side step, both brothers scattered, letting the makeshift sled cut between them and the passenger to tumble out with a laughing fit.

Keith grit his teeth and clenched his fist.

“Lance, you could have killed us! What were you thinking?”

Lance laid in the snow, looking up at the gray sky, still laughing and catching his breath.

“Uh, I was thinking of having fun...and don’t be so melodramatic Keith...”

Keith shot Lance a dirty look, before turning his attention back to his coffee in hand.

Shiro walked over, reaching his hand out to Lance. Lance took it, noticing how much colder Shiro’s prosthetic hand was to the outside temperatures. For a moment he wondered how Shiro was holding up so well in this type of weather, but held that thought to himself.

Shiro sighed, helping Lance dust the snow off.

“You didn’t hit your head or anything did you?”

Lance shook his head, smiling. Keith glanced Lance over, seeing flushed cheeks, probably due to the cold and less from embarrassment. 

“Nah, I’m fine…” 

For a moment, Keith froze, because he was about to say “damn right you are”, before stopping thinking of something “smart”, but it came out mean.

“Too bad, maybe would have knocked some sense in you…”

Lance just shoved his hands in his pockets and Shiro just frowned at Keith’s words. Both men bellowed out one word.

“Ouch…”

Keith knew he screwed up on that one. Lucky for him he didn’t say anything else, otherwise he’d be getting a “Shiro” talk. Keith turned around and made his way silently to the art building, thinking over his words.

***

Allura gave a disappointed look as she scanned the classroom. Half of her students weren’t even there. This winter would be a long one if students didn’t start showing up on time, she didn’t like docking grades.

Her blue eyes landed on Lance, who was setting up his work station.

“Where’s your shadow?”

Lance gave a sheepish smile, putting his watercolors down on the easel. The look on Allura’s face told Lance he better not lie.

“He...uh...still in bed….like I’m guessing most of the other students are…”

Allura then turned towards Keith, who was huddled near the heater. He spoke first, long before Allura could ask him anything.

“Pidge won’t be here either...Something about the stars not being in position or something like that…” 

Allura pinched her nose, letting the pressure fall away. Her attention turned towards a dark haired girl, who looked like snow was her second home.

“Korra, where’s Mako and Bolin?”

Korra leaned on the window, watching with joy as the snow kept getting higher.

“Text told me their bus-line is backed up because of the snow. So they won’t be here.”

Allura was so done with winter and could not wait for things to move smoothly again. With a defeated sigh, she counted only but six student. She didn’t want to repeat a class, so she came up with an idea.

“Today class, we will have a free art period to work in any medium that you so desire.” 

At those words, Keith shot up away from the heater and quickly made his way over to his art locker. In one swift movement, his layered clothing disappeared and laid forgotten on the ground. With great joy, he grabbed his charcoal covered box and white watercolor paper. This action cause Shiro to cough at his brother’s laziness. 

“What? I’m an artist, there’s a method to my madness.”

Shiro narrowed his eyes, lowering his glasses at him. He was looking over portfolio work in Allura’s office. 

“Well I didn’t raise an animal, so pick it up…” 

Keith placed his items down next to his chair, before stomping back over to his winter jacket and hanging it up in his locker.

“Happy?”

Shiro pushed his glasses back up on to his face, before letting his words fly.

“I will be happy when you apologize to Lance. What you said was kinda mean.”

Keith looked over at Lance, who was lost in his own little art world. The look on his classmates face was of ease and joy. He looked away, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

“I’ll say sorry at the end of class...okay?” 

Shiro didn’t say anything after that, he just looked down and started on the portfolio work again. Keith took his leave and returned to his spot, setting up his easel and pinning up his paper on it.

With his clean hands ready for the dirty work, Keith opened his charcoal box and went to work.

***

What seemed like ages, was in fact only somewhere around the range of 30 minutes, Allura clapped her hands together, causing the silent artists to all jump and look at her.

“Okay, now that I have your attention, I want to try something new.”

The students groaned, only wondering what their crazy art teacher was going to make them do next.

“I want you to trade your work station for a different canvas and add on to the work of your classmate. A challenge of how well you can adapt to someone else's style. Now if you don’t mind, please move to the workstation to the person infront or behind you.”

Lance’s world came crashing down as he turned to look behind him. Keith of all people, had choose that day to have his back towards him. Lance let his anger out by the tapping of his foot. Lance didn’t mind the change, he thought it was a good idea, but to have Keith he had to trade spots with did not set well with him. He had to have one of the most messiest art mediums in all existence. Not to mention, Lance was still upset with what Keith had said earlier.

Keith on the other hand, started to panic. He did not like the idea that his work was to be worked on by someone else. He glanced over at Lance, who looked just as amused as he was. He watched as the brunette stood up and took his jacket off, walking away from the canvas, from what Keith assumed, was to put the thing away so it wouldn’t get messy.

Keith too, got up and walked his way over to the sink, to wash away the charcoal dust the best he could, so not to get Lance’s watercolor art any more damaged than it was going to be under his care. 

Allura watched as her six students changes seats, changes subjects and changed mediums. She was having a grand time, watching as her students struggled under the pressure of the new change.

Shiro walked out of her office, amused by the change of events. He couldn’t help but look at the students artwork before they were changed forever by another artist's hand. He was impressed at how each student had their own signature and was interested on how it would clash with others.

Allura gave out one last call.

“You have until the end of class to finish. Carry on.”

Keith leaned back in Lance’s chair. Letting his arms hang as he tried to think of what to add to Lance’s watercolored work. He could see where Lance as going, with the dolphin in the water. It was tranquil, almost flowing. He was amazed at how much Lance was able to accomplish in such a short timeframe, Keith didn’t want to touch it, to add to it. With one last glance, he leaned forward and dipped the brush into the color red.

Lance on the other hand, had yet to even touch anything. His arms crossed, a frown on his face, his foot tapping like mad. With his eyes gazing up and down Keith’s work, he started to count, letting his breathing mellow out. He let his eyes wander over the landscape Keith had left for him to finish. It was a wooded area, tree’s thin and leafless. He knew Keith could create some amazing drawings. He could see it taking shape, but because he was late to start drawing, it all wasn’t there or near finished. So with one last huff, Lance unfolded his arms and reached into Keith’s charcoal box and started drawing away. 

***

The sound of the bell rang, causing the six students to lower their art tools and pull away. Allura walked around, please to see that her challenge had caused her students to pull miracles out of a snowy day.

“Alright, everyone, return to your workstations. Tomorrow we will go over the different strengths and weaknesses each student has when it comes to different mediums.” 

Keith didn’t move right away from Lance’s spot, he just lowered his head, not sure what he did was right or not. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Lance leaned over his shoulder and whistled.

“Hey, it's not that bad. I kinda like it.”

Lance could still see his original work, being vastly different than he had intended to be. Lance had planned on just a dolphin swimming in water, but Keith changed that subject up and ended up painting the dolphin in space. A galaxy replaced that of the blue crystal waters. 

Keith let out a blush, trying to hide that he was somewhat please hearing that. After what seemed like eternity, he turned to look at Lance and let out a laugh. The brunette frowned, not getting what was so funny.

“What?”

Keith moved away from the chair, pointing towards Lance. Lance’s once clean blue jeans, were marked with so much charcoal dust, it made Keith wonder if he really looked that messy all the time. 

“Sorry, but you just look like you had a fight with the charcoal stick.”

Lance rested his hands on his hips, frowning. The marks were all over his face too, leaving Keith holding back an even bigger laugh. At this point and time, Lance gave up on looking clean. His jeans being the biggest casualty of all, covered in charcoal hand prints. 

“Well that’s because I did have a fight with the damn thing. Why don’t you go take a look at yours? I’m going to get cleaned up…” 

Keith went to take a quick glance at Lance’s work, but his brother stood in front of it, blocking his view. So Keith walked around him, looking at what Lance added to his very minimal work. Keith’s jaw dropped. The tree’s that he had, were covered in a light blanket of snow. Lance must have found had found the white charcoal Keith had and used it as a highlighter. A moon shown through the trees, leaving shadows in its wake. To the right, was a brick cabin, smoke escaping from the chimney and a candle in the window. The snow on top of the cabin, also highlighted with white. The smudging alone was enough to blow his mind. It was far better then Keith had originally planned for. He was just going to go simplistic, with added backdrop, not a whole scenery teeming with life.

Lance came back, drying his hands. A large grin on his face as he slinked his way in.

“So, what do you think?”

Keith turned, his jaw slacked, but quickly fell into a smirk. Lance had no idea the charcoal was still on his face. Knuckle lines still visible on Lance’s cheek from where he rested his hand to think.

“I think it’s amazing. Taking what I had and turned it into…”this” was something I was not expecting…”

Lance raised his hands up, shrugging.

“Just because I don’t like charcoal doesn't mean I don’t know how to use it...and what were you expecting exactly?”

Lance’s tone went from full of it, to sharp from zero to 60. Shiro heard that tone and left to go look at Korra’s work. He liked Korra, she wasn’t as crazy. Keith watched as his brother left him to a growing angered Lance. He shifted his gaze away, not wanting to look into Lance’s deep blue eyes.

“I was expecting you to kinda mess around with it...with what I said this morning…”

Lance let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, He closed his eyes and turned his back towards Keith, walking back to his own workstation to start putting it away.

“Come on Keith, I’m not that petty…” 

Keith bit his lip, not sure what to say next. He looked back at the charcoal drawing and sighed, closing his eyes.

“Let me try this again...I’m sorry.”

Lance nearly dropped his painting tools as he turned his head to look back at Keith. The man before him was avoiding eye contact and being shy. Lance couldn’t help but wonder if Keith was trying to step out of his comfort zone.

“Look, there’s really nothing to be sorry about. I was being stupid and could have gotten both you and Shiro hurt. You had every right to be mad at me...”

Lance quickly shut his mouth when he saw Keith turn beat red. The black haired man calmed himself down, before speaking, fighting back the blush in his system.

“Let me apologize darn it...and let me make it up to you.” 

Lance folded his easel, raising an eyebrow and smiling. His had half hoped Keith would ask him out on a date, but quickly chased that thought out of his mind. There would be no way in hell Keith would be interested in him, not after all the headbutting the two always did.

“What do you have in mind?”

Keith no longer looked away, this time he looked directly in Lance’s eyes. Lance felt like he might need to run.

“Coffee...Would you like to have coffee with me…” 

Lance could not believe the words he just heard coming out of Keith’s mouth. He must have had charcoal dust in his ears. In the back of his mind, he was screaming.

“Are...are you asking me out for a date?”

Keith looked around the room, greatful to know that the other students, the Professor and Shiro were preoccupied with other stuff to watch a sappy lifetime drama movie unfolding underneath their noses. He glanced back at Lance, with more of a shaky smile.

“What if I am?”

Lance just blinked, thinking over his answer while trying to remain calm. He swallowed hard, before answering.

“Okay...Coffee sound nice...let’s put the stuff away in the lockers and head out…”

Keith’s cheeks fell into a deep blush, as he turned his back to Lance to hastily grab his materials to get out of there as fast as possible. Lance left Keith in the room to quickly make it to his locker, without losing it. The shades of pink he was hitting was no where on his color scheme.

Lance opened his locker, placing his items inside, careful not to let the wet painting get any damage. He grabbed his jacket and closed the door, to see Keith just entering. Keith gave a nervous laugh, leaving Lance to find it cute and chuckle in return. The feelings between the two was filled with awkward glances and giddiness of feeling like high school boys getting their crush noticed.

Keith put his items away and grabbed his jacket as well. The blush still going strong.

“So...are you ready…?”

Lance nodded, scratching the back of his head, the black marks seemed to merge with his deep red.

“Yeah…”

The two walked out of the art locker room, passing by two other classmates who were chatting away about some future art project. Whatever it was, was lost between the two. As they made their escape, Shiro called out to Keith, who stopped and turned to look at his brother.

“Hey Keith, wait for me! We can go home together!”

Shiro was oblivious and it set Keith in a bad mood. He was not going to be cocked block by his own brother. Lance was no better, the frown he sent Shiro, left the poor older student confused. 

Allura pulled at Shiro, glancing over at her two student. She apparently got the hint, whereas Shiro was a dense motherfucker.

“I don’t think so, I need you to help me move some things…”

Shiro lowered his head, not sure what she was going on about.

“What things?”

With that as their cue, both Lance and Keith slid away, escaping out to the white landscape that was calling their names.

The cold wind that nipped at their faces, was just a mere annoyance, as they walked under the falling snowflakes to a coffee shop down the way.

End...


End file.
